BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's judoka Yang Xiuli claimed the women's 78kg title at the Beijing Olympics here on Thursday, edging Yalennis Castillo from Cuba in the breath-taking final.
The bronze medals went to Jeong Gyeong-mi from South Korea and Stephanie Possamai from France.
(BEIJING, August 13) -- Kristin Armstrong of the United States carved the winning difference on a long downhill section to claim the gold medal in the Women's Individual Time Trial on Wednesday.
Emma Pooley of Great Britain set an early fast time, but was knocked down to the silver medal by Armstrong's powerful performance in the second half of the one-lap, 23.5km course up and down a steep climb along the Badaling section of the Great Wall.
Karin Thurig of Switzerland took bronze less than two seconds ahead of cycling legend Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli of France.
Armstrong was four seconds slower than Pooley at the top of the main climbing section, but the 2006 world Time Trial champion powered over the second half of the course to win in 34:51.72 (40.445kph).
The gold is Armstrong's first in Olympic competition and the first by the USA Cycling team in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Pooley, who had never previously won a medal in international competition and only began racing in 2005, was almost the surprise winner in 35:16.01. The trained engineer calculated it well enough to settle for silver at 24.29 seconds slower.
Thurig scored a second consecutive Olympic bronze medal by also riding well in the second half of the course to finish with 35:50.99 at 59.27 seconds off the winning time. The two-time world Time Trial champion also won bronze in the Time Trial in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Longo-Ciprelli, 49, narrowly missed a career fifth Olympic medal by stopping the clock in fourth place in 35:52.62, nearly one second off the podium. The French veteran is racing in her seventh consecutive Olympic Games.
Cooler weather, light winds and cloudy skies welcomed 25 starters who raced one at a time in a race against the clock, but there was none of the heavy rainfall that drenched the Women's Cycling Road Race on Sunday.
(Beijing August 13) -- Italy's Federica Pellegrini won gold with a world record time of 1:54.82 in the Women's 200m Freestyle final at the National aquatics center on Wednesday, August 13.
Pellegrini's time was 0.63 seconds under the old world record mark. The swim was all the more impressive because of Pellegrini's heavy Beijing 2008 Olympic Games schedule.
Sara Isakovic of Slovenia, the fastest qualifier into the final on Tuesday, August 12, took silver in 1:54.97.
China's hopes for a surprise gold medal in the race looked good early on with Pang Jiaying swimming strongly, but she faded in the last 50m. Nevertheless, she had done enough to hold on for a bronze medal in 1:55.05 - and to set an Asian record.
Katie Hoff of the United States, who qualified second fastest for the final, finished fourth in an Americas record time of 1:55.78.
Camelia Alina Potec of Romania, the defending Olympic champion, finished in fifth place in 1:56.87.
"It felt awesome. I've been working at this for God knows how long now. The last two times I finished 17th and 12th, so I'm glad I finally made a final," said the 26-year-old Texan.
All his hard work could be witnessed in the qualification rounds, when he hit 145 targets out of a maximum 150, a new Olympic qualification record. Italian Francesco D Aniello finished the qualification rounds in second place, four points less than Eller. The other four shooters who qualified for the final were US shooter Jeffrey Holguin (140), China's Hu Binyuan (138), Sydney 2000 gold medal winner Richard Faulds of Great Britain (137) and Atlanta 1996 gold medal winner Russell Mark of Australia (136).
The final round saw Eller miss five targets, equal to the amount of targets he missed in the three qualification rounds. After Eller missed the first two targets, his opponents had some hope of victory, but the lanky American recovered and hit a total of 45 targets in the final, a good enough score to set a new Olympic record for the final score. Eller's 190 overtook the 189 targets hit by Ahmed Almaktoum of the United Arab Emirates at Athens 2004.
D Aniello and Hu both hit 46 targets in the final, earning the silver and bronze medals respectively with finals scores of 187 and 184.
Holguin (182), Mark (181) and Faulds (180) finished in the last three places. Mark's path to the final was tumultuous as he needed to win a shoot-off against three other shooters. All four shooters had hit 136 targets in the qualification rounds.
Mark needed to hit six targets in the shoot-off, eventually besting Athens 2004 gold medalist Almaktoum.
20-year-old Elnur Mammadli of Azerbaijan won his home country the first gold in Judo Men - 73kg. Wang Ki-chun of Republic of Korea took silver. Leandro Guilheiro of Brazil and Rasul Boqiev of Tajikistan had bronze.
![Zhang Xiangxiang, Gold In Men’s 62kg [Weightlifting]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sAjGc8hM4AD8vStTtSHXupQl9NlYEBixgglbGIjzGEN-evHi7pboZW-XjwdIaysmqa8cwob7hHUUeZdUlQtoO1nDj0aPTmhYGYQtoUh6BiftAqd4wu8Lb3gDCwCs8bkQXgcCCscA59s7rrgTlUB8_Q=s0-d)
Zhang Xiangxiang of China added another gold to the China’s Weightlifting golden chest by beating other opponents in Men’s 62kg category. He lifted a total of 319kg. Diego Salazar of Colombia had silver, Indonesia’s Triyatno made it to the third.
Maria Valentina Vezzali of Italy took home gold in Women’s Individual Foil, beating Nam Hyun-hee of the Republic of Korea. Margherita Granbassi, another Italian, landed with a bronze.
(BEIJING, August 12) -- Jin Jong-oh of the Republic of Korea scored a total of 660.4 points to win the Men's 50m Pistol gold.
The silver went to Kim Jong-su (660.2) of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Tan Zongliang (659.5) of China won bronze.
(BEIJING, August 12) -- Aaron Peirsol of the United States came back from a lackluster semifinal swim to win the gold medal in the Men's 100m Backstroke final at the National Aquatics Center on Tuesday, August 12.
Peirsol, the defending champion and world record holder, qualified fifth fastest in 53.56 for the final but showed his class in swimming down Liam Tancock of Great Britain who turned in front at the 50m 0.49 seconds under the world record mark.
Peirsol surged ahead to win comfortably in 52.45 to beat the world record of 52.89 he set in July.
After qualifying second fastest for the final, Peirsol's USA teammate Matt Grevers finished with the silver medal in 53.11.
Hayden Stoeckel of Australia, who qualified fastest for the final in an Olympic record 52.97, deadheated with Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin for the bronze medal in 53.18.
Tancock faded badly in the final 50m to finish sixth.
Peirsol has confirmed his dominance of this event in emphatic fashion despite slow heat and semifinal swims. His form will be a shot in the arm for the US Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay team with Phelps also in such irresistible form and they must go into the event as unbackable favorites.
The Women's 100m Breaststroke final was held at the National Aquatics Center on day four of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 12, 2008 in Beijing, China. Leisel Jones of Australia finished the race in first place in a time of 1.05.17 to win the gold medal, setting a new Olympic record in the process. American Rebecca Soni (1:06.73) won the silver medal and Mirna Jukic of Austria took the bronze at 1:07.34.
(BEIJING, August 11) -- Spectators might have thought they were experiencing déjà vu when they witnessed another Chinese lifter surnamed Chen dominate the Weightlifting final on August 11. This time it was defending Olympic champion Chen Yanqing, who retained her title in Women's 58 kilogram Weightlifting with a total of 244kg.
Chen's confident and steady performance throughout the final was as remarkable as the amount she lifted. Before Chen stepped onto the floor, the best result for the Snatch was 99kg from Ecuador's Alexandra Escobar, followed by three lifters tied at 98kg. However, their efforts were dwarfed by Chen's first attempt of 100kg. Chen succeeded without any trouble and continued to lift 106kg after three attempts, establishing an early lead of seven kilograms.
Choi Minho of Republic of Korea has beaten World champion, Ludwig Paischer of Austria, in Judo Men - 60kg category. Rishod Sobirov of Uzbekistan and Ruben Houkes of Netherlands landed third with bronze medals.
![Pang Wei Hits Gold In Men’s 10m Air Pistol [Shooting]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vPGlz_wBkg4WQGfo6VDDSBEoFJQsgf9-9JebupZR6n5A_k172Yo1036i_fs5fyVt2XGVFXVHxa3XQmCiRn2pkbA12tFQIb_y1x2CqgkUans7pGrCHjl461YzCKP0XIJY2jFhsv29dMRd99FHU_ZFgD=s0-d)
Pang Wei of China bagged gold in Men’s 10m Air Pistol event at Beijing Shooting Range Hall. Jin Jong Oh of South Korea was second and Kim Jong Su of North Korea followed third.
The Women’s under 48kg was staged at BUAA Gymnasium with 14 excellent women weightlifters.
Chen Xiexia of China succeeded in 95kg Snatch and 117kg in the Clean and Jerk for a total of 212kg. She grabbed the first Olympic Gold for China and broke Olympic record. Turkey’s Sibel Ozkan came second, Chen Wei-Ling of Chinese Taipei got third.
![Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon Hauls 221kg In Women’s 53kg, Wins Gold [Weightlifting]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uujxngcjfwLnzJ96LoizoD5L1MM1wEjPDMh1jZHv5cbmEVkXcMJoUxb9fPfNvQtRa7paol4odPLCgZGd8EhEGwwdHNiv4Ek6b5H2eurWNMZcGP0bS_f4Wca-mY5oUruBEiv_yxQK8oaOaEG8aNUkj7=s0-d)
Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon of Thailand lifted 221kg in Women’s 53kg (Weightlifting). Yoon Jinhee of South Korea came second, Nastassia Novikava of Belarus was third. The weightlifting event was held at Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics Gymnasium.
![Long Qingquan, Men’s 56kg, 292kg, Only 17 [Weightlifting]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uxc7aYP6ZzSEINeMHncbo3LDgpy2JIIo9xi-W1LtT0k2Gbz40_xUBD8-3IQRu2KswkFSAkAgfeG8aTUMa_iBgkAKZBvg6dxCnDFtl0jun1zfZ39nvOyvy0H3ySOMcbpVlrSK1Zoe9fsXl9DCLGCKQ=s0-d)
17-year-old Long Qingquan of China lifted a total of 292kg in Men’s 56kg category of Beijing Olympics Weightlifting event. Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Tuan and Eko Yuli Irawan of Indonesia took home silver and bronze respectively.
![Women’s Team Archery, Korea Guves Its Best Shot [Archery]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tdso_hW10jPOyktQZVQOGDXfTNO2DtxZo4Jtjiis9BFfcrfOkrPeO78172xlUQPUVENcwS4MpZZg49Kc2mUNjy9aj7MZZPjV0qkZ5fOKd9q6v9q74SLQlGCZYcjkE3tsfCBpzwJZeG5rKVnice9JBr=s0-d)
In the 2nd day of the Beijing Olympics, the final of the Women’s Team Archery event was delayed for 30 minutes due to a heavy downpour but South Korea’s Park Sung-hyun, Yun Ok-hee and Joo Hyun-jung shot the sixth consecutive gold for their country with a world and Olympic record of 224. China came second, with France followed third.
